Algeria's highest judicial body adjusts President Tebboune's election victory percentage to 84.3%.
Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has bagged a second term with an impressive 84.3% of the votes, as per the official final results. Declaring the news on radio and television on Saturday, Omar Belhadj, the head of Algeria's Constitutional Council, announced, "Abdelmadjid Tebboune has been re-elected for a second term." This is a slight dip from the initial figures announced by the electoral body ANIE, where Tebboune secured nearly 95% of the votes.
Tebboune's two competitors opposed the initial results and filed a complaint with the Constitutional Council. Abdelaali Hassani, the chairman of the moderate Islamic party "Movement for a Peaceful Society" (MSP), managed to garner 9.56% of the votes (up from 3.17%) in the final published results. Former journalist and senator Youssef Aouchiche from the opposition party Front of Socialist Forces (FFS) received 6.14% of the votes (up from 2.16%).
Over 40 million citizens were summoned for voting in the latest week's presidential election in North Africa's country. Around a third of the voters were under 40 years old. A Tebboune win was widely predicted. According to Belhadj, the voter turnout was marked at 46.1%.
Authorities had made efforts to boost attendance, deciding to extend the working hours of polling stations by an hour and offering free public transportation on election day. However, Human Rights Watch has condemned Algeria for adopting a "zero-tolerance policy towards controversial views" in an "environment shrouded in fear and censorship."
Tebboune's two competitors acknowledged the reduction in Tebboune's share of votes from the initial projections, but still expressed dissatisfaction with his 84.3% share of the votes. Despite the slight dip, Tebboune still secured a significant majority, maintaining his position as the clear winner in the presidential election.
